Boiler-furnace.



BATENTED MAR. l2, 190'?.

H. EMERSON. BOILER FURNAGE.

APII..I0.A.'.FI01-I FILED JULY, 1906.

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To all whom t may concern:

IIARRINGTON EMERSON, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

BQILER-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 12, 1907.

Application filed July 5,1906. Serial No. 324,763.

Be it known that I, HARRINGTON EMER- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State ofKansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boiler-Furnaces,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvement in boiler-furnaces generally, andmore particularly to those of the locomotive type employing liquid orgaseous fuel.

In locomotive construction the fire-box is necessarily limited as toheight and width by road and stability requirements, so that thewater-spaces over the crown-sheet and at the opposite sides of thefire-box are made as constricted as possible. The fire-box isconstructed with a nearly flat crown-sheet and rentrant curves at thesides merging into straight lines as they approach the mud-ring. Onaccount of the irregularity in shape of the fire-box unequal strainsfrom expansion and contraction have to be provided for, and the fire-boxis therefore stayed with 'numerous bolts connecting it with theboilerfshell. The bolts, as well as the Ere-box sheets, are in practicesubject to change of temperature, producing expansion and contraction.Expansion of the bolts tends to make the holes throu h which they passlarger, while expansion o the sheets tends to make the said holessmaller. Thus great heat tends to strain the parts by producing ultratight joints between the bolts and sheets, while when cooling takesplace the bolts contract and the holes grow larger, resulting in leaks.The fire-box flue-sheet is rigidly connected with the boiler-shell andis connected with the smoke-box flue-sheet by a number of boilertubes.These tubes expand and contract under chan es in temperature, resultingin strain, whic not only tends to loosen them in the fine-sheets, butalso to strain the firebox structure and the stay connections between itand the boiler-shell.

My object is to provide a fire-box of improved construction which willcause it to withstand without danger of injury the strain of expansionand contraction in use; and it is further my object to so mount andsupport the fire-box in the boiler-shell as to avoid the use ofstay-bolts or other rigid connections between it and the boiler-shell.

In carrying out my invention in a locomotive oil-burning furnace Iprovide a re-box of more or less spheroidal form, suitably suspended ormounted in a boiler-shell end portion, also preferably of more or lessspheroidal form, the connecting means between the two being such thatthe fire-box will iio at,77 so to speak, in the boiler and have limitedindependent movement to permit of expansion and contraction withoutaffecting the shell of the boiler. The fire-box iiue-sheet may be, andpreferably is, a flat disk to which the boiler iiues or tubes arerigidly secured at one end. The tubes extend at their opposite ends toand are fastened in the stationary smoke-box flue-sheet.

In the accompanying drawing I show, for purposes of illustration, oneway of applying my invention.

Figure 1 is a broken longitudinal section of a locomotive boiler andfire-box construoted with my improvements and showing no more than isnecessary to give an understanding of my invention, and Fig. 2 a sectiontaken on line 2 in Fig. l.

The boiler-shell 3 has a rear end portion 4 of the more or lessspheroidal shape indicated. 5 is the fire-box, also of more or lessspheroidal form, which may be constructed in any manner to givestrength. Flanges 6, where they occur, may be at the outer side of thefire-box and immersed in the water held by the boiler. The fire-box isloosely mounted in the boiler-shell portion 4 by means of suspending andstay chains 7, suitably disposed to hold the fire-box securely and withreasonable steadiness in proper position. Extending between openings atthe lower sides of the fire-box and boiler-shell is an inlet-flue 8,which may be constructed with bellows-like sides to render it slightlyflexible and capable of ready expansion and contraction. The flue Scommunicates at its lower end with a flue 9, which may contain or leadfrom a hydrocarbonoil burner or other source of heat-supply, the hotprod- Ects of combustion from which enter the fire- 10 is the fire-boxflue-sheet, in which are fastened the ends .of the tubes 1l. tubes arefastened at their opposite ends in the rigid smoke-box flue-sheet l2 Thefire-box being spheroidal, as stated, is of the form possessing maximumresistance to uniform external pressure. It may be spun and seamless orbe built up ofseparate convex plates or segments of any desired number.Any seams would, as shown, be formed with iia'nges extending outwardlyThe IOO

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into the surrounding water-space and would therefore be whollysubmerged. As the e'liect 'of pressure in the boiler-space is to pressthe plates and seams together, they need not necessarily be riveted inorder to form water-tight joints and could be merely clamped to holdthem in place. The Vflanges act as ribs, reinforcing the fire-boxagainst collapsing pressure, and they may be deepcned to any desiredextent to contribute strength with comparatively little increase ofweight. The plates of which the ire-box is formed may be comparativelythin the better to transmit heat, yet be extraordinarily rigid againstcollapse from external pressure. The most stable connection is that withthe smoke-box sheet 12. Expansion and contraction of the tubes willswing the tire-box back and forth on its flexible sustaining means. Thelire-box and boilertubes would in practice be sustained, for the mostpart at least, by the surrounding water, thus producing what may betermed a floating lire-box. The tubes 11, owing to their length, wouldhave sufficient flexibility to permit slight lateral movement of the'firebox without ail'ecting the security of their connection with theHue-sheets. Should the tubes expand and contract unequally, it mightcause the fire-box to have slight angular movement and some of the tubesto curve slightly; but there would be no material bending strain, as inthe case of rigidly-stayed flue-sheets of boiler-furnaces of the usualtype. The surrounding water tends to cushion the lire-box against shock;but as the lire-box may have slight independent movement during thetravel of the locomotive it will tend to produce more rapid circulationof the water and to dislodge sediment.

What claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a boiler-furnace, the combination with a boiler-shell, of a{ire-box movably suspended therein and 'forming therewith alirebox-surrounding water-space.

2. In a boiler-furnace, the combination with a boiler-shell, of alire-box' movably suspended therein and having a fuel-inlet leading intoit through said shell, said shell and box forming a water-spaceextending about the latter entirely between opposite sides of saidinlet.

3. In a boiler-furnace, a fire-box inclosed in the boiler-shell 4andknearly surrounded therein by a water-space, said fire-box being movablysuspended in the boiler-shell tov-f4A have limited, independentexpansion, contraction and movement therein, a flue-sheet forming oneside portion of the fire-box, a ilue-sheet secured to the boiler-shelladjacent to the smoke-box and boiler-tubes fastened at opposite ends tosaid ilus-sheets.

4. In a boiler-furnace, a boiler-shell having a spheroidal end portion,a spheroidal 'fire-box inclosed in said end portion and nearlysurrounded therein by a water-space, said {ire-box being movablysuspended in said end portion to have limited, independent expansion,contraction and movement therein.

5. In a boiler-furnace, a fire-box inclosed Ain the boiler-shell andnearly surrounded v tending through the boiler-shell tothe interior ofthe iire-box.

IIARRINGTON EMERSON.

Witnesses:

A. U. THORIEN, J. II. LANDIS.

